Yet the stunning artwork and detailed description of daily life on the Japanese islands sure makes this one worthy of a few visits. Highly recommended!

| Jan 14, 2020

Here, magic-realism and emotional realism run together. The story can lapse into jokiness or drag its heels a little. But when Momo's anguish bursts, and she soon realizes how sad her mother's truly been, the film bursts to life.

| Jan 9, 2016

This accessible and heartfelt anime charms because of its honesty and impressive attention [to] detail.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 7, 2015

The hit-and-miss English dub flattens some of the dramatic beats, but this is still a rather lovely piece of work.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 30, 2015

The new anime A Letter to Momo feels like the movie that Hayao Miyazaki's final film should have been.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 5, 2014

Filmmakers of live-action fare, even that which ostensibly is aimed at adults, could learn a lot from its tact.

| Sep 5, 2014

A Letter to Momo is a sweet, melancholy story with beautiful artwork that pays special attention to both natural surroundings and traditional Japanese animistic spirits, but its appeal is overwhelmingly human.

Full Review | Sep 5, 2014

A sweet, heartfelt, yet never maudlin story about an 11-year-old girl's coming to terms with the loss of her father.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 5, 2014

It's difficult to imagine any children's movie retaining the attention of its intended audience for two hours, but this movie feels especially monotonous.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Sep 4, 2014

Despite the hand-drawn film's supernatural edge, one of Okiura's lyrical strengths is acquainting a viewer with the poetry of the real - animated reflections of ordinary, beautiful things we see in everyday life without actually noticing them at all.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 4, 2014

It's (... ) remarkable since it's a tender, sweet film that softly explores the resolution of loss on levels that parents and children both will understand, enjoy and savor.

| Sep 4, 2014

Remains absolutely lovely with intimate moments and heartbreaking with honest communication, sold with gorgeous animation that brings out character detail and fantasy peculiarity with equal grace.

| Original Score: B+ | Aug 29, 2014

A sweet tale of a sad girl who moves to a new place and meets supernatural pals.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 28, 2014

A striking example of Japanese hand-drawn animation, it casually combines things you wouldn't expect in one place.

| Aug 28, 2014

Had Okiura cut some of the supernatural shtick he would have had a far more affecting and mercifully shorter movie.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 28, 2014

After the fashion of Miyazaki's films, the visual style achieves a satisfying balance between realistic detail and painterly flourishes, and the laid-back pacing allows one to savor both.

| Aug 28, 2014

"A Letter to Momo" is unquestionably lovely to look at, but viewers may not be able to shake the feeling that they've seen much of it before, and done better.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 28, 2014

Scene after gorgeously hand-drawn scene offer a visual feast, but two hours of it is a bit too long.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 28, 2014

Who cares if there's a better film to be cut out of A Letter to Momo's frames? If the experience of watching is exhausting, it's no less rewarding.

| Original Score: B | Aug 27, 2014

Thankfully, the supernatural elements never overshadow the human story occurring in the foreground.

| Original Score: B+ | Aug 11, 2014